Page 13 of Reckless Single Daddy

“I’m sorry for closing you out all these years,” I say. “I want to do better. Ipromiseto do better.”

She smiles warmly at me. While it hasn’t been ten years since I’ve seen her, it has been long enough, and that’s the painful part.

She wraps her arms around me, and we hug each other tightly. I melt into her arms, and for once since I’ve been back in Rose Valley, it feels like home again. The doubts, the pressure, the stress—all of that washes away with Mia and the hope we’ve built through this conversation. It wasn’t a big or explosive conversation, but the words needed to be said. It was time to letgo of all the toxins from my past and tell her how sorry I was for the way I handled things.

When we pull away, I feel much more comfortable going downstairs to entertain the guests—okay, onlyslightlymore comfortable. I’m happy that I can be there for my sister without the dark cloud hanging over us, but I’m still nervous about how I’ll look in front of everyone.

The backyard is packed like a party at the Hamptons. Everyone is mingling with their flutes, and here I am, nursing a soda. I stand off to the side, making sure to be polite to anyone who walks by, but going up to people is not my forte.

“Sloane!”

I look up and see Melanie, a somewhat old friend, approaching with some of the other women we used to go to school with. I recognize them all: Ashley, Brenda, and Gina, but none of us stayed in touch. I mentally kick myself because I should have taken the time to find them, but I really was dreading it.

“Mel, hey!” I say, attempting to match her same energy. She leans over and hugs me tightly as she holds her mimosa flute in her hand. We pull away, and she smiles warmly. She’s always been nice to me, so I know her excitement isn’t fake, but sometimes I wonder.

“How are you? You look amazing,” she says.

I give a weird shrug. “Been doing great. Sold my first major collection a few months back, so just been enjoying the success while I can,” I tell her as she looks at me, impressed.

“Ride that high, girl! You’ve always been talented,” she says, and I smile gratefully at her, a real one this time. I don’t know what it is about validation, but it always finds a way to make things better.

“What about you?” I ask.

She waves off the question. “Same old thing in Rose Valley. I work at the law office,” she says, and I nod.

“I teach English over at the high school,” Ashley chimes in. You’re a big deal there, Sloane. Mr. Mathers couldn’t stop ranting about it,” she says, rolling her eyes playfully.

I chuckle, blushing slightly. Mr. Mathers was my art teacher who inspired me to attend art school. He helped me with my applications and gave me a glowing recommendation. He even kept in touch with me, until I fell off the face of the Earth. I owe a great deal of my success to Mr. Mathers.

“I’m sure success isn’t the only thing you have going on,” Melanie says. “You always attracted the hottest guys with your mysterious demeanor.” The other ladies nod in agreement.

I close my eyes, hoping it’ll remove me from this conversation, especially when Cade is the only guy I’ve been thinking about these days. But these women know Cade as the resident bad boy with a good heart—apparently—but if only they knew.

“Well, I hate to disappoint, but I’m very single,” I tell them as I note the wedding rings on all their fingers. Then I want to kick myself.

Oh, boy, did I step in it now…

“I work with a really nice guy,” Melanie says, eyes widening in excitement. “He’s a lawyer. Recently divorced, but highly respectable.”

I immediately shake my head. “No, no, that’s okay,” I backpedal. “Hey! Listen, it was great talking to you all, but I think I’m going to get some air.”

I wave and leave as quickly as possible before I get pulled back into a conversation I don’t want to be in, and before they realize we’re in the backyard.

I walk through the gate of the fence leading to the front yard as the bridal shower continues. With each step I take, the further the noise becomes, and the less suffocated I feel. I take a deep breath and let it out as I stand on our outside porch, staring out at all the rows of cars here for the shower.

I close my eyes to allow myself a moment of respite. I shouldn’t have let the girls’ questioning get to me, but I haven’t been in this big of a crowd since my opening, and even then, I felt like I was going to combust. The difference was that at the exhibition, those people weren’t there to see me specifically, but my work—and they hadn’t known me most of my life. Most of them didn’t even know my name before the showing, so it was easier to blend in and be someone else. Here, it’s like being under a microscope. I feel like I’m constantly under scrutiny.

I just wish I stopped caring what these people thought. Or more or less I wish I didn’t overthink every interaction as if they were trying to dissect me in a high school science lab. It doesn’t have to be anything more than people just missing me, but a decade away is a long time, and I’d be insane not to think that didn’t raise questions in Rose Valley.

A door closes in the distance. My eyes open, and I see Cade walking down the steps of the neighboring house. He lives next door to my parents? I stare curiously as he fiddles with his keys and walks to his expensive Porsche.

I look back at my childhood home and decide I won’t be missed before hopping down the steps and crossing the street towards Cade. I lean against the fence as he finds the key to his car.

“Some might call you a stalker for buying the next-door house of your best friend and secret lover,” I joke, watching Cade look up from his car like he just heard a ghost or something more nefarious.

He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees it’s me. “You have no shame, Miss Bennett,” he says as he walks up to me, causing me to chuckle at him.

“Maybe I just like to see you sweat,” I reply.

---